Latest articles by 219https://www.koumbit.org/en/articles/auteur/219
enWhy we are leaving Facebook, and encourage everyone to do the samehttps://www.koumbit.org/en/content/why-we-are-leaving-facebook-and-encourage-everyone-do-same
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>There has been a lot of critical discussion of Facebook recently, especially because of large amounts of user information that were obtained by right-wing electoral consultation firm <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal">Cambridge Analytica.</a></p>
<p>However, the problems with Facebook go much deeper than this most recent scandal. The Cambridge Analytica incident was not an aberration or leak so much as a partnership compatible with one of the most foundational functions of Facebook: to collect and categorize information about individuals and groups, and use the access to this data to make money. There are many forms that this surveillance and data collection can take: from the use of analytics for targeting advertisements, to the turning over of your private information to the police and other state institutions. Facebook is not the only company making money through this kind of surveillance, but they have taken a leading role in making the corporate internet operate more in this way.</p>
<p><a href="https://transparency.facebook.com/country/Canada/2017-H1/">Statistics released by Facebook for 2017</a> show that the social network complied with 85% of requests for user data made by law enforcement in Canada. For activists organizing using the social network, non-status individuals needing to keep their addresses private, or any other reason one may want to keep their personal information out of the hands of the police, using Facebook can present a huge risk.</p>
<p>In 2009 Koumbit joined Facebook for the first time, seeing it as one among many ways that we could improve our communications and visibility on the internet and in the communities and networks where we are active. In the time since, we've never been very active on the social media network, much preferring to keep our communications with clients and community groups whose work we support private and secure.</p>
<p>At Koumbit we work together on building and maintaining autonomous internet services, according to <a href="https://www.koumbit.org/en/values">our values</a> of horizontality, freedom and solidarity. Important tenets of these values include respect for privacy and freedom of expression, as well as Transparency and the free exchange of information. We find that these values are in direct contradiction with the way that Facebook operates, and the direction it is attempting to push social media and the internet as a whole.</p>
<p>It is for these reasons that we have decided to permanently delete our Facebook account and page, and encourage everyone who can to do the same. Though Facebook does not provide a path to permanently delete your account in the settings (instead only offering the option to deactivate it), you can click the following link: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account">https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account</a> to delete it right now!</p>
<p>You can continue to reach us at : Koumbit.org, info@koumbit.org, 514-907-9494, or by stopping by 1883, rue Amherst, Montréal, H2L 3L7</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 17 May 2018 14:02:40 +0000Cadence O342 at https://www.koumbit.orgKoumbit is recruiting a web developer with experience in Drupal and/or WordPresshttps://www.koumbit.org/en/content/koumbit-recruiting-web-developer-experience-drupal-andor-wordpress
<div class="field field-name-field-kt-articles-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/en/taxonomy/term/27" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">Job opening</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The position starts at 20 hours per week, with the possibility of increasing your hours. The hourly rate is $21, and the position will start in March 2018. Applications are due February 18, 2018.</p>
<p><strong>About working at Koumbit</strong><br />
Koumbit is a collective has developed websites for local and international non-profits since 2004. We provide services in visual design, user experience, Drupal and WordPress custom module development and theming, HTML/CSS, hosting, and strategic web consulting. Founded on principles of openness and equality, we specialize in free software and are organized as a non-hierarchical collective. Koumbit employees set their own work schedule and participate in the consensus-based decision making process of the group. They earn a common salary of $21.00 per hour.</p>
<p><strong>What you'll do</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Work with clients and colleagues to plan, structure and execute web development projects</li>
<li>Manage an entire project (we're willing to help you get comfortable doing this - and if you've done this as a freelancer, let us know)</li>
<li>Communicate with clients and team members to get what you need in order to understand the work and do it well</li>
<li>Work with designers and integrators to ensure that designs are feasible and useable</li>
<li>Analyse client briefs/RFPs and estimate necessary development tasks</li>
<li>Build, configure, and support websites made with Drupal or WordPress (we're willing to train the right candidate to adapt their skills to these CMSs, but experience in at least one of these CMSs is necessary)</li>
<li>Participate in the open, fun, socially engaged atmosphere of our office</li>
<li>Participate in 2 to 3 team meetings per month (required) and other instances of collective decision-making (as desired)</li>
<li>Take on additional tasks that interest you and meet the needs of the collective (examples: write a blog post, prepare an invoice, water the plants, coordinate a meeting)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Technical skills and qualifications you'll need</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Experience as a site builder using Drupal and/or WordPress</li>
<li>Ability to work well independently:
<ul>
<li>A desire to take ownership over tasks</li>
<li>A commitment to problem solving</li>
<li>The ability to effectively communicate about actionable tasks</li>
<li>Strong motivation to ask for help and feedback as needed to produce results</li>
</ul></li>
<li>A high level of written and spoken French, an ability to understand and express yourself in English</li>
<li>Ability to provide training and support to clients with varying levels of technical expertise</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Assets</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Project management skills:
<ul>
<li>Ability to discern what's needed to solve a problem, and to get things done by being creative and resourceful</li>
<li>A willingness to create concrete plans from vague client briefs, in collaboration with clients and coworkers</li>
<li>Comfort communicating with clients in person, over email, and in conference calls</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Experience with front-end programming (CSS and/or JavaScript and/or jQuery )</li>
<li>Experience or knowledge of PHP and/or MySQL, or with similar languages, and/or a desire to learn</li>
<li>Comfortable in a Linux-based development environment, and using a source code version control system, or willingness to learn</li>
<li>Available to work from our office in Centre-Sud for at least two thirds of their hours</li>
<li>Experience and demonstrated interest in working with the non-profit &amp; community sector, and in working with free &amp; open source software</li>
<li>Enthusiasm for working in a collective environment and a willingness to take on other, non-technical tasks to help our collective thrive (such as invoicing, human resources management and other administrative decision-making, and your share of office cleaning)</li>
<li>A desire to share your skills and knowledge, and to learn from your co-workers</li>
<li>Ability to participate in collective decision-making, including expressing your opinion and thinking critically about the way our collective works</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Some things we think you should know</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The position starts at 20 hours per week, with the possibility of increasing your hours. The hourly rate is $21, and the position will start in March 2018.</li>
<li>Koumbit provides workstations for use in our office, but having your own laptop for client meetings would be helpful.</li>
<li>Sadly, our office is not currently wheelchair accessible. Our office is accessed at the front via 1 step, and at the back without a step. However the bathroom is down 11 stairs in the basement and is not wheelchair accessible.</li>
<li>Koumbit recognizes and appreciates the contributions of people who identify with groups under-represented or marginalized in our areas of expertise and in our society. We particularly encourage applications from those who identify with these groups, including but not limited to women, Indigenous people, visible minorities, recent immigrants, and queer and trans people.</li>
</ul>
<p>If this position interests you, please send your CV and a cover letter by email to embauche@koumbit.org by February 18, 2018. We thank everyone who takes the time to respond to this job ad, but we'll only contact people we select for an interview.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:27:47 +0000Cadence O324 at https://www.koumbit.orgKoumbit is recruiting a site builder with experience in Drupal and/or WordPresshttps://www.koumbit.org/en/content/koumbit-recruiting-site-builder-experience-drupal-andor-wordpress
<div class="field field-name-field-kt-articles-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/en/taxonomy/term/27" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">Job opening</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The position starts at 20 hours per week, with the possibility of increasing your hours. The hourly rate is $21, and the position will start at the beginning of December 2017. Applications are due November 27, 2017.</p>
<p><strong>About working at Koumbit</strong><br />
Koumbit has developed websites for local and international non-profits since 2004. We provide services in visual design, user experience, Drupal and WordPress custom module development and theming, HTML/CSS, hosting, and strategic web consulting. Founded on principles of openness and equality, we specialize in free software and are organized as a non-hierarchical collective. Koumbit employees set their own work schedule and participate in the consensus-based decision making process of the group. They earn a common salary of $21.00 per hour.</p>
<p><strong>What you'll do</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Work with clients and colleagues to plan, structure and execute web development projects</li>
<li>Manage an entire project (we're willing to help you get comfortable doing this - and if you've done this as a freelancer, let us know)</li>
<li>Communicate with clients and team members to get what you need in order to understand the work and do it well</li>
<li>Work with designers and integrators to ensure that designs are feasible and useable</li>
<li>Analyse client briefs/RFPs and estimate necessary development tasks</li>
<li>Build, configure, and support websites made with Drupal or WordPress (we're willing to train the right candidate to adapt their skills to these CMSs, but experience in at least one of these CMSs is necessary)</li>
<li>Participate in the open, fun, socially engaged atmosphere of our office</li>
<li>Participate in 2 to 3 team meetings per month (required) and other instances of collective decision-making (as desired)</li>
<li>Take on additional tasks that interest you and meet the needs of the collective (examples: write a blog post, prepare an invoice, water the plants, coordinate a meeting)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Technical skills and qualifications you'll need</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Experience as a site builder using Drupal and/or WordPress</li>
<li>Ability to work well independently:
<ul>
<li>A desire to take ownership over tasks</li>
<li>A commitment to problem solving</li>
<li>The ability to effectively communicate about actionable tasks</li>
<li>Strong motivation to ask for help and feedback as needed to produce results</li>
</ul></li>
<li>A high level of written and spoken French, an ability to understand and express yourself in English</li>
<li>Ability to provide training and support to clients with varying levels of technical expertise</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Assets</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Project management skills:
<ul>
<li>Ability to discern what's needed to solve a problem, and to get things done by being creative and resourceful</li>
<li>A willingness to create concrete plans from vague client briefs, in collaboration with clients and coworkers</li>
<li>Comfort communicating with clients in person, over email, and in conference calls</li>
</ul></li>
<li>Experience with front-end programming (CSS and/or JavaScript and/or jQuery )</li>
<li>Experience or knowledge of PHP and/or MySQL, or with similar languages, and/or a desire to learn</li>
<li>Comfortable in a Linux-based development environment, and using a source code version control system, or willingness to learn</li>
<li>Available to work from our office in Centre-Sud for at least two thirds of their hours</li>
<li>Experience and demonstrated interest in working with the non-profit &amp; community sector, and in working with free &amp; open source software</li>
<li>A willingness to work in a collective environment and take on other, non-technical tasks to help our collective thrive (such as invoicing, human resources management and other administrative decision-making, and your share of office cleaning)</li>
<li>A desire to share your skills and knowledge, and to learn from your co-workers</li>
<li>Ability to participate in collective decision-making, including expressing your opinion and thinking critically about the way our collective works</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Some things we think you should know</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The position starts at 20 hours per week, with the possibility of increasing your hours. The hourly rate is $21, and the position will start at the beginning of December 2017.</li>
<li>Koumbit provides workstations for use in our office, but having your own laptop for client meetings would be helpful.</li>
<li>Sadly, our office is not currently wheelchair accessible. Our office is accessed at the front via 1 step, and at the back without a step. However the bathroom is down 11 stairs in the basement and is not wheelchair accessible.</li>
<li>Koumbit recognizes and appreciates the contributions of people who identify with groups under-represented or marginalized in our areas of expertise and in our society. We particularly encourage applications from those who identify with these groups, including but not limited to women, Indigenous people, visible minorities, recent immigrants, and queer and trans people.</li>
</ul>
<p>If this position interests you, please send your CV and a cover letter by email to embauche@koumbit.org by November 26th 2017. We thank everyone who takes the time to respond to this job ad, but we'll only contact people we select for an interview.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 06 Nov 2017 21:48:05 +0000Cadence O311 at https://www.koumbit.orgWe're moving!https://www.koumbit.org/en/content/were-moving
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Koumbit has found a new office! We'll be moving Friday, September 29th and will be set up in our new location very shortly.</p>
<p>As of next week, you will be able to find us at our new working space:
1883 rue Amherst, Montréal, QC H2L 3L7</p>
<p>Please remember to change our address if you're sending us payments or any other mail! We will have mail forwarding from our old address for a limited time.</p>
<p>Feel free to come visit us! We're just a short walk from Métros Beaudry, Berri-UQAM, and Sherbrooke.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 27 Sep 2017 19:17:59 +0000Cadence O307 at https://www.koumbit.org